An Iranian family embroiled in Islamic revolution, the hostage crisis, incest, and exile in America
Forced to flee the country with their parents as Khomeini rises to power, Nora and Jahan Ellahi rise to the challenge of anti-Iranian hostility in America. Breaking free from their intense attachment to each other, they explore new relationships to forge independent lives. The romantic artist Jahan ultimately returns to join the army to fight Iraq, while ambitious Nora finds a life of greater opportunity and personal freedom in the U.S.
“If, as Aristotle reminds us, we are our desire, then who are we if the object of our desire is forbidden? What becomes of us if we are born in one world yet long for another? These are just two of the complex and difficult questions Nahid Rachlin explores and ultimately illuminates in this brave, engrossing, and timely novel. I recommend it highly!” – Andre Dubus III, author of House of Sand and Fog
"Jumping Over Fire is a political novel with a strong dose of Wuthering Heights blended into it . . . potent subject matter . . ." – The Seattle Times
Nahid Rachlin is the Iranian-American author of the novels Foreigner, The Heart’s Desire, Married to a Stranger and the short story collection Veils. She teaches at the New School University and the Unterberg Poetry Center in New York.
Read an Excerpt of Jumping Over Fire
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